Old Metal Files turned to a Fine Woodworking Tools 

Thank you very much for breaking this down for me! I appreciate a lot! I have a lot to learn, yes!

@@Take_And_Make I half expected that you would be on the defensive about this, and am very pleased you have taken it as it was intended - constructive criticism. Hope it helps.

I always separate constructive criticism from hate. We live and learn

Cool use for a file, but it seems like a lot of effort just to make a wooden anal plug?

,c es un

Glad to hear it!

Thank you too!

Thank you, sir!

Thank you! Cheers!

Thanks, Joe!

Thanks for the tips!

Helps to see if you holding your drill straight horizontally

I’m actually more into metal work now, but I feel like I’d get back to turning wood initially

@@Take_And_Make I was a production spindle turner for many years and after my new shop is done I thought I would get a small metal lathe and a mill. I'd like to incorperate the two mediums and i'm not into metal sculpture. I worked as a labtech in a scupture lab for 5 years. I teach woodworking now.

Thank you! Cheers!

This is where I bought my plans housemade.us/collections/the-revolution-2x72-belt-grinder-plans

You can do it!

@@Take_And_Make Absolutely .... mind over matter, right :o) My dad is a machinist and taught me and my brothers to be jack of all trades ... never buy a tool or pay for a job that we can do ourselves! I never liked that philosophy when I was a kid but I love that lifestyle now!

@@tymz-r-achangin We live and learn!

Hahaha, those chisels don’t worth that much money and probably wouldn’t put them on sale at all, I just like to make some tools myself if I can.

And it took only one tool to need to point that out.

Thank you, Peter!

Thank you for your suggestion!

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching!

If you were paying any attention at all you would've noticed that I did in fact annealed those files in the forge prior to grinding them. Hope that answers your question.

@@Take_And_Make Sorry that I was also doing other things while lazily watching your video, I see that's a no no with you, as is your lack in knowledge of how annealing works. What you did wasn't really annealing, it was WAY too hot on some parts and too cold in others. Not unless your forge is made solely of refractory, which if it is, it is a ceramics kiln and not a forge at all. The method you used cools much too quickly, if your forge is a ceramic blanket lined with any form of refractory, to properly anneal or normalize. You also didn't employ the fast annealing process... So, maybe you didn't intend to come off as a rude sod, but you did.. welcome to putting yourself out there and getting feedback & questions. Smh

Great point!

Yes, that's why I put it in the oven so I can control temperature to gain the color of the straw.

Thanks for the tips!

Thank you for the good pointers, Gary!

That was just a colour pigment. Glad that I could inspire you!

Cool, thanks

Thank you!

The reason for heat treat was that I’ve annealed them in the forge for easier grinding/stock removal. You probably missed that part.

Thanks, will do!

¡Gracias Señor! Además, gracias por informarme sobre la polaridad al endurecer el acero, no lo sabía.

👍

@@Take_And_Make Thank you.

Helps you hold your bit on centre

Thank you very much!

Give it some shine

This was not a new file, it did harden 100%

@@Take_And_Make oh definitely, i can see that, I'm just saying that not every file will harden like this.

Thank you!

I don't know... some videos I don't feel like talking.

@@Take_And_Make I understand but at least give us a funny stare.

Thank you from Edmonton, Alberta

Just a colour pigment

Glad you enjoyed it!

@@Take_And_Make Of course, it's very professional awesom work!

You put steel in oven after hardening to make them less brittle, read about tempering steel. I had them in oven for 2 hrs at 400F

The steel is like glass after hardening .

No, ask any professional knife maker. You Always do two temper cycles

Thank you! 👍

I'll be making more knives on my channel, including throwing once, maybe you should subscribe! Meantime you can watch my knifemaking playlist ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_eah8Lr58RQ.html

That's actually a good idea

Thanks 👍

Just soak your files in vinegar for a week, than clean gently with soft wire brush

Heating the files will destroy them. It will cause them to become soft (almost as soft as mild steel), and form scale (oxide harder than rust), making the teeth blunt. If you want to restore files, get a brass or other softwire brush (not plated steel) and then soak in vinegar or other acid, take out occasionally and brush the grooves out, removing rust and clogged metal. This should improve the performance of the files and not meaningfully damage the files steel. (Contrary to popular belief this doesn't really sharpen files, it just cleans them out). If you look at your files, and you see reflective spots on the very top of the teeth, the file is worn out. Now it can still be used, for example if you were to use the edge of the file (usually lasts much longer than the flat faces due to not seeing much use), or the ends can still be good, so you can use those. But aren't going to be much good outside of extremely soft metals, or plastics and wood. You don't need to toss them if they go dull though, they are usually very good steel. You can turn them into marking knives, scrapers, wood or metal lathe turning tools, or practically anything else that needs tool steel, I've seen a bunch of really useful things for bits of files, one being removing the seam from the inside of tubing. A little creativity and a grinder get you quite far. Though, if you are using them without annealing/tempering, they are going to be dangerous in high stress environments (lots of shock or lateral force), they can shoot shards that will injure you. So learn what you need for specific situations, and you'll be fine.

@@autumn5592 l

@@autumn5592 i have a LOT of flea market files that appear to have been used on aluminum. Getting those clean have been efforts in vain, nothing has worked. I'm not new to working with restoring files, just a bit of personal experience on seemingly impossible to clean files.

@@TingTingalingy Get yourself a soft scribe (if you have those generic small jewelers screwdrivers, you can grind a point onto on of them) or even mild steel rod. Then you follow the groove of the file tooth, pushing along it, the aluminium should pop out. May take a few passes to properly work, because the file teeth will cut the scribe to the same form as the teeth, allowing it to get deep inside the groove. Use a magnifying glass or the sort to help you see if you are having trouble. To avoid pinning on your files, frequently use a brass brush or file card, and for soft metals apply a chalk to the teeth, this prevents aluminium from sticking.

Thank you! Cheers!

No problem

Thank you! Cheers!

Thank you for your advice!

That was accepted as fact by many of us but, actually that is not true. It was completely disproved in a very thorough test posted by Fireball Tool a few months ago on YT.

Grazie!

I’ll survive without your view bud, not all content needs commentary, this isn’t how to video, you can go pound sand!

Merry Christmas! Thank you for watching!